Chipmaker Nvidia Suspends Self-Driving Tests After Uber’s Fatal Crash

The fallout from the fatal crash involving an autonomous Uber vehicle continues. Nvidia, which supplies chips for Uber’s self-driving cars, said it’s temporarily suspending all of its self-driving tests on public roads to learn more about [the] crash in Arizona, a company spokesperson told Recode.

“The accident was tragic,” Nvidia spokesperson Fazel Adabi said in a statement. “It’s a reminder of how difficult SDC technology is and that it needs to be approached with extreme caution and the best safety technologies.” SDC refers to self-driving cars.

Other self-driving car companies have also temporarily suspended their testing, including Toyota and nuTonomy, which is developing self-driving software. Uber halted all of its testing immediately after the crash.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey yesterday suspended Uber’s self-driving tests in the state indefinitely. He sent a letter to Uber saying the company failed to comply with the expectation that public safety be the top priority for the companies that operate self-driving cars on Arizona roads.

“In the best interest of the people of my state, I have directed the Arizona Department of Transportation to suspend Uber’s ability to test and operate autonomous vehicles on Arizona’s public roadways,” Ducey wrote in his letter. “Arizona will not tolerate any less than an unequivocal commitment to public safety.”

It’s a complete about-face for Ducey, who welcomed Uber into the state with open arms after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the ride-hail company’s vehicle registrations. The DMV said Uber did not properly register the vehicles as autonomous test cars.

In Arizona, Waymo continues to test and operate vehicles with and without safety drivers. Ducey has long been friendly to autonomous technology and issued an executive order to establish a self-driving vehicle oversight committee in 2015.

City of Boston officials have also temporarily suspended testing.

As companies and regulators alike respond to the self-driving-related pedestrian death…